Essay on Leadership # Importance of Leadership  
          
         In today’s changing world, fear and uncertainty prevail in business 
         organizations.  There  should  be  an  atmosphere  of  trust  and 
         understanding  between leaders and stakeholders of the company 
         for the smooth running of the business. Leaders play important role 
         in shaping the culture and ethical agenda of the organization. 
         Leaders  realign  their  organizations  with  employees,  customers, 
         shareholders, suppliers, regulators, and the communities in which 
         they operate. Leaders cannot operate in isolation and groups cannot 
         do away with leaders. 
         Leadership is important because of the following reasons: 
         1. Task support: 
         Leaders  support  their  followers  by  assembling  organizational 
         resources  and  help  them  accomplish  their  tasks  and  meet  the 
         standards of performance. 
         2. Psychological support: 
         Leaders  help  followers  accomplish  organizational  tasks.  They 
         promote followers  to  work  with zeal and confidence. They make 
         followers  realize  their  capabilities  and  guide,  counsel, and coach 
         them whenever necessary. 
            This  promotes  the  morale  of  employees  and  healthy  interaction 
            amongst  members  of  the  group.  This  also  develops  disciplined 
            thinking in the organization, productivity, growth, and stability. 
            3. Develops individuals: 
            The willingness, enthusiasm, and confidence that leaders build in 
            the   followers  for  the  accomplishment  of  individual  and 
            organizational goals result in their growth and development. 
            4. Builds team spirit: 
            No individual can work alone. Leaders develop team spirit amongst 
            followers  to  work collectively and coordinate their activities with 
            organizational activities. A leader works as captain of the team. He 
            develops understanding amongst followers, resolves individual and 
            group     conflicts,   and    harmonizes      individual    goals    with 
            organizational goals. He creates forces of synergy and converts the 
            individual output into collective output. 
            5. Motivation: 
            Leaders  motivate  employees  to  take  up  challenging  jobs.  They 
            combine the ability with a willingness and drive people to action. 
            They exploit their potential to work and convert their desire into 
            performance.  They  also  develop  commitment,  loyalty,  and 
            dedication  amongst  the  followers  and  create  an  environment 
            conducive for their development. 
       6. Provides feedback: 
       When people work towards well-defined targets, they want feedback 
       on  their  performance.  Leaders  provide them this feedback. They 
       guide  them  to  continue  to  improve  their  results  by  correcting 
       deviations in their work performance. 
       7. Facilitates change: 
       Effective leaders convince members about the need and benefits of 
       organizational change. The change process can be smoothly carried 
       out by overcoming factors that produce resistance to change. 
       8. Maintain discipline: 
       Leadership  is  a  powerful  influence  to  enforce  discipline  in  the 
       organization. It can enforce formal rules and regulations. Members 
       follow rules with commitment and loyalty if leaders have confidence 
       in them. Leaders promote teamwork, change their attitude towards 
       work, develop good human relations, facilitate interaction amongst 
       members, and maintain discipline in the organization.